Hey guys, big news! After 4 months of being out of school and doing nothing but improving my skills, I finally have a design gig for a major sports team. The Tampa Bay Rays have offered me the position for an internship in their design department. Cool right? I had to work for it, and after the interview, they cut down the field and sent a design test to the remaining people.
The designs were the following
1) create a print ad for a Kevin Kiermaier gold glove bobble head, and a Rays pennant as giveaways.
2) create a social media graphic for the Kiermaier bobble head, complete with a custom hash tag.
So here's what I made
Not sure how many people reading this want to make design their career, but my advice to you is to create as much as you can, and create a good network of people whose opinions you listen to. I started posting on the Creamer boards when I was 14, and now I'm 22 and lined up a gig that will surely lead to bigger things.
Follow my twitter @michaeldanger19 if you want to keep up with what I'm making

Sup? It's been a while! Here's what the last 5 expansion teams plus the Coyotes would look like if they were the Original 6. The era I aimed for was the 40s, and everything you see is hand made by me!
I have a few more plans for this but C&C is appreciated

If you don't follow me on twitter(which you should) you may have missed this. It all started as a fun little joke tweet I made while stuck in a car coming back from Tennessee.
All it was was a fun little joke, and then I got to thinking about a concept using that Orioles logo style. Then what would a flamingo look like? What about a chicken? Duck?
Sunday night I made the mistake of following through on these thoughts and created the twitter @smilingbirdlogo, and well the topic is exactly how it sounds.
I figured someone would have brought it up here but it seems like something you all would enjoy the hell out of. Thanks!

Thanks for the feedback everyone.
While I work on the Ravens, here's the LA Rams.
My thinking here was to split the difference between the 80's Rams and the 50's Rams, combining bold, modern color blocking with a more retro logo set.
Athletic gold returns, complemented by a new dodger blue.
The primary is a compromise between their 50's and 60's logo and their current ram head. I also created an LA monogram and a vintage-looking leaping ram logo.
Home and road pants could be mixed and matched every once in a while.
C+C appreciated!

Hey guys! I've been following the boards for a while but I wanted to make sure I was content with my design skills before I posted anything.
A couple months ago, there was a Portland MLB Expansion thread that caught my attention. I thought that the Herons would be a perfect identity for a Portland baseball team and decided to run with it.
I designed a primary heron logo, a secondary featuring a heron in-flight, with the Portland skyline as a backdrop. The custom script is a modified version of Daily Grind, with rose-like accents added in reference to the Portland's moniker, the "city of roses".
The uniforms (presented using @rsaline 's excellent template) are inspired by a heron's plumage. The shoulder stripes and pants stripes, both distinctly thicker than traditional baseball stripes, mimic the coloration on a heron's wings. The cap features a gold brim, inspired by a heron's beak.
Creating the ballpark, Columbia Field (after the Portland-based company) was a fun experiment. I borrowed elements from AT&T Park, PNC Park, Ebbets Field, among others, and used Portland's Fremont Bridge as a backdrop. If you stare at it long enough, it'll be very apparent that it was somewhat hastily assembled on Photoshop, but hopefully you guys get the idea.
I also created apparel, signage, and social media packages, presented using mockups I found online. I tried to give the branding a little bit of a vintage-ish vibe to appeal to Portland's hipsters.
If you're wondering why I chose the players I did, it was pretty arbitrary other than Daniel Norris, who seemed very Portland-y to me.
Enjoy!

Would have liked to have seen the accents in gold with a black collar. It would have been reminiscent of their first uniforms with the black cuff and gold stripe. Also instead of having the neck stripes end abruptly and been pointed off would have better matched the cuff stripes. I have no problems with the helmets, they are fine the way they are now. As for pants they could have done something to match the striping pattern. I think the single color numbers is fine, it kind of reminds me of way back when most team had white numbers on colorful templates. Also going back to a lighter shade of gold to me fits better.
Here is a quick mock up of what I would have done with this set.

To be fair, my comment was directed at the teal/white color combination -- not the details of the uniform. You won't find a bigger fan of the Fred Taylor set than me, and I would still have preferred if they'd gone back to it.
The Jaguars weren't able to pull off the teal/white look with the previous set due in large part to the black numbers on the teal jersey. Not to mention the two-tone helmet completely taking away from the look. The set before that had the teal flake helmet, which never quite looked black (or teal) -- plus they had that atrocious piping slapped all over the uniforms that still makes me cringe. (I actually hated that set even more than the last set.)
You could argue that they have over-corrected a bit on these after going to the extreme with their last uniforms, but I'm okay with it. Simple isn't always a bad thing, and as traditional as it looks, the clean lines are actually quite contemporary. We've seen where trying to be cutting-edge has taken their identity over the past decade. We've also seen what Nike has done to teams who were trying to push the envelope -- our previous set, Tennessee, Tampa Bay, Cleveland, etc.... and no thanks. I don't see people getting sick of these after 2 seasons. People tend to get sick of the trendy, over-designed sets that look dated shortly after unveiling. If anything, I see this as the kind of set that could grow on people given that they choose the right combinations to wear.
Again, it goes back to what I said was the misstep of sticking with the black primary. Being minimalist and clean is great, but not at the expense of your primary colors. Now was the time to switch back to teal as the primary set so that you wouldn't have this problem of needing to inject teal and gold into the look. My fear is that we'll consistently see black/white and black/black at home, with the white/black and white/white on the road. I'm still interested in seeing black/teal on the field, but I don't know how often they'll actually wear the teal pants.
I had mocked this up prior to the unveiling as something I would have loved to see --
These tweaks would make their uniform absolutely perfect in my eyes --

Thanks for the feedback, guys. I tried out all your ideas and the sleeve caps ended up being the only workable option. I'm not sure which one I like better, but I'm leaning toward the original. I'd love to hear it if you have a compelling case for either option.
Next up, the Jacksonville Jaguars!
The Jags have been around for less than 25 years and have already had several different looks. My goal here was to combine aspects from all of them to create one cohesive identity that could unite multiple generations of Jags fans. There's a lot going on here so I'll break it down.
The new primary logo is a synthesis of their past two logos. It keeps the bold lines and movement from the original, with some of the refinements of their current. I threw in an updated shield logo for good measure.
Helmets are glossy with subtle teal flakes. Think of it as the midpoint between their current helmets and their '09-12 helmets.
Sleeve striping is a modern take on their '95-08 striping. The collars from their past two looks, a distinct and ownable element, return to the jerseys.
Jersey numbers are a compromise between their past two number fonts. Modern and sharp, but tasteful and readable.
Pants are inspired from their '13-'17 pants. I liked their color distribution, but the execution was a little clunky. Pants striping is consistent with the uniforms.
Socks are basically their current socks, adjusted for consistency.
Jerseys and pants can be mixed and matched. I put together some of the other options we'd see the most of. I don't usually go for mono black jerseys, but I'd love to see this one once or twice a year.
Let me know what you think!

In a stunning turn of events, Pawnee, Indiana has mounted the winning bid for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games over competing cities Los Angeles and Paris. Headed by Regional Parks Director Leslie Knope and her husband, U.S. Congressman Ben Wyatt (D-IN), the bid proposed the building of three state of the art all-purpose stadiums as well as the renovation of two local parks to serve as Olympic-worthy venues, which ultimately swayed the Olympic committee to select the rural Indiana city.
Though initially opposed by City Councilman Jeremy Jamm (who had tried to secure one of the stadium lots for a Paunch Burger franchise) and former Parks and Recreation Director Ron Swanson (due to strict fiscal concerns), the bid was supported by the city council by a vote of 3-2. After the bid was announced as the winner, Mayor Jerry Gergich stated this was "the single greatest thing to ever happen to Eagleton...oh, I mean Pawnee".
The games' official logo depicts the late Pawnee icon 'Lil Sebastian carrying the Olympic torch, a mark Knope herself suggested. "'Lil Sebastian was and always will be the spirit of Pawnee," she said at the press conference, "and thus I felt it fitting that the Pawnee 2024 Olympic Games evoked the spirit of our beloved 'Lil Sebastian." The games are slated to be held August 5-17, with the opening ceremonies being held at the Pawnee Olympic Stadium and featuring performances from local icons Mouserat, Duke Silver, and Perd Hapley.

The National Hockey League and adidas today unveiled the new ADIZERO Authentic NHL jerseys and uniforms for all 31 NHL teams, including the San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks), which will make their on-ice debut with the 2017-18 season.
At the forefront of innovation, design and craftsmanship, the new ADIZERO Authentic NHL jersey takes the hockey uniform system and hockey jersey silhouette to the next level by redefining fit, feel and lightweight construction.
*Lighter - Featuring new cresting materials and construction technology, the ADIZERO Authentic NHL jersey reduces crest weight by up to 46%, while a single layer perforated numbering system reduces number weight by up to 60%, in order to deliver a new jersey that is up to 19% lighter when compared to the current NHL Jersey.
*Cooler - The ADIZERO Authentic NHL jersey features adidas Clima® technology in each of the jersey fabrics to deliver breathability and enhanced performance. Combining moisture management technology and a streamlined silhouette to maximize air flow circulation with materials that are up to 133% more permeable than fabrics currently used on ice allows athletes to be cooler.
*Stronger - Constructed for durability, the ADIZERO Authentic NHL jersey fabrics are up to 27% stronger in burst testing
and up to 72% tougher in abrasion testing

Well the Patriots dynasty rolls on. Congrats to the Pats for winning their sixth Super Bowl; only time will tell if they can make it seven under Brady and Belichick. We shift gears now and look ahead to Super Bowl LIV in Miami next year. Below is the design I made for next year's event down in South Beach. Let me know what you guys think and I appreciate the feedback!